Methods and apparatus are known for marking surfaces to enhance special events. The surfaces that may be marked include parking lots, playgrounds, and sports fields.
In one method that is used to create artwork on a sports field, a single stencil first is fastened to the desired area using weights or stencil anchors. Next, a pattern of small openings in the stencil are sprayed with an aerosol turf paint. Spraying of the small openings results in a pattern of dots on the turf. The stencil is then removed, and the aerosol turf paint, for example, is used to connect the dots. The large areas bounded by the connected dots then filled-in with bulk field paint. The method then ends with touch-up of the artwork as desired.
In another similar method, a single stencil is used that includes a pattern of large openings. Spraying of the large openings results in at least an outline of a bounded area that then may be filled-in, for example, after the stencil is removed. This method obviates the connecting of the dots.
A “paw stencil” is commercially available from Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker of Norfolk, Nebr., at www.athleticfieldmarker.com. The paw stencil is a single stencil made from a planar sheet of flexible film having a length of approximately fifteen and one-half feet and width of approximately seventeen and one-half feet and retails for $169. The stencil folds like a bed sheet into a two-foot by two-foot square for easy storage.
Unrelated to the field of the present invention of creating a team logo on a residential lawn, Ogorzalek U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,087 (“Ogorzalek”) discloses a stencil kit for decorating architectural structures, i.e., walls, exterior surfaces of houses, and exterior surfaces of commercial buildings, using paint and stencil templates included in the kit. Ogorzalek notes that a common problem with conventional stencil kits for architectural structures is that the structure surfaces are vertical and therefore paint migrates under the stencil templates. To overcome this problem, the stencil template of Ogorzalek includes an adhesive backing so that the stencil template adheres to the surface being painted, and the stencil template includes a foam material layer that allows the surface of the stencil template to be deformed in order to conform with surface irregularities in the exterior surface of the architectural structure.” Nothing in Ogorzalek discloses or suggests that the stencil template might be secured to the surface being painted with stakes, nor does anything disclose or suggest the provision of stakes in the stencil kit.